Toothbrush with movable head sections for enhanced oral care

Abstract

The present invention relates to a powered toothbrush with two moving bristle bearing parts, the first such part is disc-shaped and rotates or oscillates back-and-forth, the second such part is coupled to the brush head by an elastomeric material, such that the second section can be moved either by the force of brushing or by selective engagement with the drive mechanism of the toothbrush.

Description

[0001] This is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 198,260, filed Jul. 17, 2002, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety in this present application.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to powered toothbrushes, and more particularly, to a toothbrush having a head with two distinct moving sections that each provides enhanced cleaning and / or massaging oral health benefits to the soft and hard tissues of the mouth. DISCUSSION OF RELATED ART [0003] Toothbrushes provide many oral hygiene benefits, including for example, toothbrushes remove plaque and food debris to help avoid tooth decay and disease. They remove stained pellicle from the surface of each tooth to help whiten the teeth. Also, the bristles combined with the brushing motion massage the gingival tissue for stimulation and increased health of the tissue. [0004] Powered toothbrushes have been available for some time. Powered toothbrushes have advantages over manual (non-powered) toot...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015] A powered toothbrush is provided and includes a handle portion at a proximal end and a head at a distal end with a neck being formed between the handle portion and the head. According to one embodiment, the head has two distinct movable parts or sections that provide oral health benefits since each is adapted to have a number of bristles or elastomeric cleaning members extending therefrom to contact surfaces of the teeth and surrounding areas. The toothbrush has a drive mechanism that imparts movement to the two movable parts to deliver a cleaning, polishing, whitening action that supplements the cleaning efficiency of a typical powered toothbrush with single a disc-shaped bristle carrier.

[0016] In one embodiment, the first moving head part is a first disc-shaped bristle carrier that supports a number of bristle tufts, elastomeric cleaning members, or a combination thereof. The first bristle carrier is operatively mounted to the head and is coupled to the drive mechanism such that the first bristle carrier rotates or oscillates back and forth in a direction generally parallel to the toothbrush head. Preferably, the first bristle carrier is oscillated back and forth in a rotational direction. The second movable part is in the form of a second bristle carrier which is supported and coupled to the head by an elastomeric member. This combination of a powered movement of the first bristle carrier to scrub away plaque and debris from the teeth and a second bristle carrier which moves in use is preferred, as the second bristle carrier will yield during brushing to reduce the pressure being applied by the bristles extending from the second bristle carrier on the gums and other oral soft tissues and further, the bristles extending from the second bristle carrier will be continuously realigned during brushing accommodate to the curvature of the dentiture. Further, by only having one powered movable part, the size of the motor and drain on the preferred battery power source is reduced, providing economic savings.

[0017] In a second embodiment of the present invention, the elastomeric supported bristle carrier may be selectively engaged by the drive mechanism to vibrate or oscillate in a direction generally perpendicular to the head, thereby providing a brush head with an extended field of cleaning elements that provides at least two different types of bristle motion for enhanced cleaning, whitening and / or massaging of the dental tissues. In a preferred alternative of this second embodiment, a single drive shaft is utilized for rotationally oscillating the first bristle carrier and also for causing the second bristle carrier to vibrate or oscillate in-and-out in a direction generally perpendicular to the direction of movement of the oscillating first bristle carrier.

Problems solved by technology

Individual teeth often have extremely complex surfaces, with areas that may be flat, concave, or convex.

Although powered toothbrushes such as those described immediately above provide advantages over manual toothbrushes, they are subject to various limitations.

The limitation of Blaustein et al. is that the static bristle section provides no better cleaning, whitening or stimulation than a manual toothbrush.

However, only one bristle part is powered.

Providing the free resonance effect disclosed in the Braun PCT application inherently has a number of problems.

First, any contact between the bristle parts will dampen or cancel the resonance of the unpowered bristle part, the unpowered bristle part “floats” separately from the powered bristle part.

This necessitates separation or gaps between the unpowered bristle part and the remainder of the brush head, which gaps expose the internal workings of the head to entry and accumulation of foreign matter such as water, saliva, toothpaste, and food particles.

This foreign matter accumulation may interfere with the workings of the unpowered bristle head and interfere with its function.

In addition, food particles may remain in the head and may fester and host microorganisms, which are undesirable if not potentially harmful when the head is re-introduced into the mouth.

Another limitation of the design disclosed in the Braun PCT application is that movement of the unpowered bristle part may be damped by contact with the teeth, or lessened when the frequency of the powered part shifts from the resonance frequency.

Therefore, the unpowered bristle part is less effective in cleaning than the powered part, limiting the overall effectiveness of the toothbrush.

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